Director: David Yarovesky
I watched Locked and ended up wondering whether the film director had his car stolen or broken into so many times that he daydreamed about catching one of the vandals and torturing them. This is what the film story is about: a thief breaks into a car and finds himself locked up and tortured by the owner, who is fed up with his car being broken into. On some level, the director’s idea is hysterical, but when watching the film, it seems too much in places.
Locked features Bill Skarsgård as Eddie, a thief who needs one more ‘job’ to get out of debt and get his car back so he can also try to be a better dad to his daughter. As he enters the car, he realizes he cannot leave, and things get weird. The owner of the car (Anthony Hopkins) locks him up and speaks through the car’s control, tasers him, and tortures him with hunger and thirst unless he apologizes, refrains from cursing, etc. Eddie even must drink his urine to survive, which is when I started to feel it was all too much. Then, the owner takes Eddie for a drive and threatens to run over his daughter and other pedestrians, so the film moves into a thriller.
It was a weird experience to watch this film. I normally do not have sympathies for thieves who steal other people’s property, but the car owner is portrayed as vigilante who is dying of the final stage cancer and whose daughter has been murdered by criminals and therefore, he does not care how much cruelty he shows to Eddie, which at times, feels excessive. Eddie is not a murderer after all. But, as a result, the viewer finds themselves in a situation to root for a thief, which just felt wrong. Bill Skarsgård is, however, brilliant as Eddie and portrays Eddie’s emotions and street cred very well.
Overall, a very strange film, but I was pleased to watch it because this was not something I normally watch. I don’t know whether to recommend it or not. From the acting point, yes. From the story point, not much there. I am not sure.
Thank you for reading!